January 12, 2017 C-SPAN News
Retired Gen. James Mattis, the Trump administration’s Defense Secretary nominee, discussed a number of topics at his confirmation hearing including U.S.-NATO relations, Russia, U.S. intelligence reliability, the defense budget and military readiness. He testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. On NATO, Mr. Mattis called it the most successful military alliance. He acknowledged President-elect Trump’s skepticism of NATO but added that in conversations with him, Mr. Trump has shown an openness on the topic. The President-elect has also questioned U.S. intelligence. Mr. Mattis said he has a “very high, high degree of confidence” in the nation’s intelligence community. To wrap up the more than three-hour long hearing, senators voted to pass a bill out of committee to give Gen. Mattis a waiver allowing him to serve as Defense Secretary even though he’s only been out of military service since 2013. Under existing law, there is a 7 year wait period for retired military officers to serve as Defense Secretary.